Chassis Re-Inforcement AGAIN!!! - ground and primed, phew!

So here it is...if you don't know what 'it' is, you need to read the last 3 or 4 posts. If you don't, you won't appreciate the magnitude of this task and the sheer skill, genius and dedication it has required to do it...yeah right!! Seriously though.......I bet you couldn't bloody do it!

Anyway, after all the holes of the re-inforcing plate were plug welded, the welds were ground smooth...

Then it was Etch Primed.. Ultimately, I'll remove this primer and properly 2PK Epoxy Prime it. Later, I'll apply Cavity Wax under the plate for extra rust protection...

Before I go....check out the fit of this baby!!...not impressed?....ahh

Right, now what's next..?!

Plug Welding the Chassis Re-Inforcement

Now the Re-Inforcement Plate is fabricated, it's time to prep it for welding. It will be Plug Welded into place so I drilled 7mm holes at roughly 30mm spacing. Unfortunately I drilled  5 or 6 holes in the wrong place so I needed to weld-up those holes and re-drill them in the right spots.

Here are the holes drilled.

When I had to fill the 'mistake' holes I put a copper pipe behind the hole to give me something to weld against.

Once the holes were drilled in the right place(!), the surfaces to be welded together were painted with weld through primer. Actually, I really wanted to do this right because it's an important structural piece - and I needed to get good weld penetration for strength. So I marked through the holes down onto the surface  of the floor and carefully removed the primer at these points using a paper towel and thinners. This meant I would be Plug Welding straight onto the bare metal and would likely give me a stronger weld.....yes, very anal!

Then the plate was welded into place - but it wasn't bloody easy! All the welding on it had taken its toll so it was pretty warped. This meant it took some serious hammering to shape it into place as I plug welded it in strategically and very carefully!

Here it is all nicely welded into place - looks easy doesn't it...well you can just 'shut it' right?!!

Next post shows it ground nice and smoooooth....

Joining the Chassis Re-inforcement Plate Sections

Got a new Disc Sander delivered under guarantee after the old one packed up; so I cut and sanded the four Chassis Re-inforcement Plate Sections so they fit over the Trunk Floor as 'perfectly' as I could.

In order to join them easily I used scraps to create a kind of bridge - bending them at the end gave me something to clip the Welder 'return-clamp' to.

Once the pieces were tack welded together, I could remove the bridge pieces and weld the 4 sections together permanently... Doing it bit by bit, and moving around the part minimised distortion from heat build-up.

Here's the completed weld..

....and here's the entire panel with the welds ground smooth on the top and bottom.